Sewing for organization.

I have a complex relationship with stuff. I tend to accumulate lots of it, and simultaneously get rid of bags of it at a time. I think a lot about how and why we collect things, and how to simplify our relationship to our things. All of this thinking led me to my craft area, which is my most poorly organized, but most used, space; supplies overflow from boxes, topple over on desks, and live in duplicate in different storage containers. As I sorted through everything, I realized that my knitting needles and crochet hooks were in complete disarray.

I spent some time one evening after work rounding up as many of my double-pointed needles as I could. I pulled them from project bags, from the basket in which some live on my desk, and from the plastic and paper cases in which they were sold. This messy craft space is very well-stocked, so I was able to quickly stitch up a solution to consolidate all of my needles into one easy-to-locate container. I pulled some mid-weight canvas and a half-yard of fabric from the shelf and got to work.

Less than an hour later, I had a finished (mistakes and all! don’t inspect my quick and dirty stitching) holder for my DPNs. I made sure to leave pockets on the outside to hold printed patterns and a small notebook, for taking notes on my stitching or jotting down ideas. The whole things closes up into a neat and tidy little case, and I’m pondering whether or not I want to add a closure of some sort. As it is, nothing falls out of the case, but I think the structure of a little button tab or suede strap would be a nice aesthetic touch.

When I threw this together, I couldn’t find a desirable tutorial or pattern, so I drafted one using a calculator and piece of graph paper. It’s the first time I’ve taken the design of something into my own hands and it was very satisfying. I need to make an additional case for crochet hooks, so I’m hoping to put up the tutorials for both in this space soon – adding my voice to the choir of effective ways to store your needles and organize the abundance of stuff we all seem to have.

If only I could find such a simple solution to storing my yarn and fabric. Any ideas?